Late Miocene climatic cycles and their effect on sedimentation (west Hungary)

Abstract

AbstractOn the basis of sedimentological, well-log, palaeontological and pedological analyses of three Upper Miocene borehole sections from Hungary, a cyclic change of sediments from deltaic and alluvial depositional systems is presented, which is considered to have been driven by a cyclical change of the climate (temperature and precipitation). A delayed but positive correlation between the sedimentary cyclicity linked with fourth order sedimentary sequences, and a long-term cyclicity in temperature have been observed. Within this cyclicity, higher-order sedimentary changes are seen. They are interpreted as fifth order sedimentary cycles related, in turn, to short-term climate phases. Within a long-term cycle, four short-term climate phases are defined as a result of changes in temperature and precipitation: semi-arid, turning from warm-temperate to cold-temperate; humid, cold-temperate; warm-temperate with a warming trend, with average but decreasing precipitation; and warm-temperate, with average precipitation.